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the principal direction and management of the affairs of this Society. (Renewed cheering, and some interruption.) They are men; and none of them would thank me for saying that they are infallible. I do not claim for the officers of this Society infallibility. (Dissent.) Hear me, you Christians! Hear what may be said in defence of those who may be called accused persons, who do not claim for themselves a perfect freedom from error. And I ask any man, what system is there existing on earth, administered by man, which is wholly exempt from the traces of human imperfection and infirmity? (Hear, hear.) But they are honest men. (Loud and general cheers.) They are able and faithful men. (Renewed cheering.) Their eminent talents and virtues, the ability and integrity with which they have administered the affairs of this Society, entitle them to your confidence and to your thanks. (Cheers, and some dissent.) It is a common sentiment, that we live in critical times. The spirit of the age, of which we hear so much, is restless for change. What have we witnessed in neighbouring countries? We have seen the frame-work of society shaken to its foundation, and the very elements of which it is composed threatened with dissolution; and permit me, my Christian friends, to ask, What is the lesson which the wise and the good in those countries have sought to inculcate, and to act upon? It is this,-Union, union, union of the friends of order and of authority, against proceedings which threaten the dearest interests of society, and the liberties and properties of individual men. (Cheers.) My Christian friends, shall this example be lost upon us? or shall we be guilty of the suicidal folly of becoming the blind instruments of the same spirit of reckless change in its assault upon the institutions of Methodism? (Great cheering.) If that attempt is made, our watch-word must be, "Union, Union, Union," the union of the wise, and the pious, and the generous, and the patriotic, for the preservation and support of that religious system which has descended to us, consecrated by the counsels, the prayers, and the sufferings of our sainted fathers, and which has been signalised, throughout a whole century, by the blessing of God. Shall we be guilty, O ye Methodists, of the strange infatuation of destroying the influence, and throwing away the opportunities of usefulness, which God, in His providence, has bestowed upon us, as a great religious community? or shall the

energies of a united people be wasted upon questions of very inferior and doubtful importance? The world cannot spare our agency. We have a great work to do; much of it remains undone; and let us, to all who would vainly challenge us to contention, as with one voice, say, "We are doing a great work; and we will not, we cannot, we dare not come down to you, lest the work cease." (Cheers.) No, Sir, the spirit of disorder and the spirit of revolt are essentially opposed to the spirit of our Divine Christianity. (Hear, hear.) Union must be our watch-word; and, thus confederated, under the banner of the Cross, let us go forth, not to contend with each other, but to conquer the world. (Cheers.) Sir, I have great pleasure in proposing the following Resolution for the acceptance of this Meeting :

"That the cordial thanks of the Society are due, and are hereby presented, to the General Committee; to Thomas Farmer, Esq., and the Rev. John Scott, the General Treasurers; and to the Rev. Dr. Bunting, the Rev. Dr. Beecham, the Rev. Dr. Alder, and the Rev. Elijah Hoole, the General Secretaries; for the valuable services which they have severally rendered to the Society, in the direction and management of its affairs during the past year."

The Resolution was seconded by the REV. JOSEPH LAWTON, of Leeds.

The CHAIRMAN.-I must request that you will hear me for one moment. All the Resolutions that preceded this were founded on the principle of support to the great Missionary Society of Wesleyans; and I assumed there could be no reasonable ground for any individual differing from these Resolutions. It is in vain for me to conceal from myself, stranger as I am, that there are two opinions on the present Resolution: I will, therefore, put the Resolution to the Meeting in the affirmative, in the first instance; and those who approve of it will hold up their hands. I shall then put it in the negative on the other hand; and those who disapprove of it will hold up their hands; and, as an honest man, I will state which, in my opinion, is the greatest number. And, if you will permit me, I will first read distinctly the Resolution which I wish to put to

you.

The Resolution was then read by the Chairman; and, upon a show of hands being taken, there were not a hundred hands held up against it.

The CHAIRMAN-I beg to say, the Resolution is carried in the affirmative;

and I have much pleasure in so saying. (Great cheering.)

JOHN CORDEROY, Esq., rose to move the next Resolution,

"That the thanks of the Society are due to the Rev. Thomas Jackson, President of the Wesleyan Conference; the Rev. John Hannah, D.D., of Didsbury; the Rev. William Bevan, of Wolverhampton; and the Rev. Daniel Macafee, of Dublin, for their excellent Sermons preached before the Society during this Anniversary; and also to the Rev. Robert Newton, D.D., the Rev. John Bowers, the Rev. Peter M'Owan, the Rev. John Rattenbury, the Rev. Charles Prest, the Rev. John C. Leppington, the Rev. John H. James, and the Rev. William Arthur, for their very acceptable Pulpit-Services on the same occasion."

The Rev. JOHN HALL, of London, seconded the Resolution, which was put to the Meeting by the Chairman, and declared to be carried; about four hands only being held up against it.

THOMAS FARMER, Esq., then rose, and was greeted with very loud cheers. He moved

"That the very cordial and respectful thanks of the Society are due to the Right Honourable Fox Maule, M.P., for the great kindness and ability with which he has conducted the business of this Meeting." (Loud cheers.)

I am pleased that I have not been disappointed in the expectation that I have formed. Whatever may be the difference of opinion that exists in this Meeting, I trust that there is not an individual so destitute of right feeling as to withhold the expression of thanks to our worthy Chairman. (Cheers.) In every respect I feel grateful myself, and I am sure I express the sentiments of by far the majority. (Cries of "All, all.") I am very happy to be corrected: I believe I express the sentiments of all here present in proposing this vote of thanks to you, Sir, feeling thankful on every account, but especially thankful for the support which you have given us on this occasion, and the views you have expressed, which we believe are in accordance with the sentiments of the Committee, and of the officers whose duty it is to carry out the business of this Society. (Cheers.)

JAMES HEALD, Esq., M. P., amidst great cheering, seconded the vote of thanks. He said,-I beg to bear my grateful testimony, in the presence of you all, to our excellent Chairman, for the manner, so gracious and so kind, in which he accepted the invitation of the

Committee to preside over us on this interesting occasion. I feel we are under an obligation which it would be in vain for me to attempt to express, for the great service which our excellent Chairman has bestowed on our Society, by presiding over us to-day, in a manner so able, so kind, and so likely to contribute to the lasting welfare of the Wesleyan Missionary cause. (Great cheering.)

The REV. DR. BUNTING was then called forward, and was hailed with enthusiastic and long-continued cheers. He said, It is my pleasing duty to ask the Meeting to pass the vote of thanks to our Right Hon. Chairman, which has been moved and seconded, and which has, I am sure, been already passed in the recesses of your hearts, in the conviction of your best judgment, and in the affection which you feel for one who, from love to the common cause of our common Saviour, has done us this great service. (Cheers.) I have hard work to restrain myself from adding a single sentence. (Cries of "Go on.") I have felt pain to-day on one ground only. (Hear, hear.) I had no doubt what was the general feeling of the Society, no doubt what was the general feeling, in respect of our Missionary cause, of the vast majority of our people and of our subscribers, (hear, hear,)-I say, the vast majority. (Cheers.) I did, therefore, feel ashamed, that there should have been persons found, so wanting in common propriety, and in common sense, as, before strangers, to have exposed their own want of [The remain

der of the sentence was drowned by the burst of cheering that followed.] That feeling, however, has been greatly relieved, by the manner in which those Resolutions, which were calculated to call forth whatever little difference did exist, were put by our Right Hon. Chairman. The sense of this Meeting has been fairly taken. (Loud cheers, and a cry of "No, no.") Deny it who can. (Cheers.) He who denies that, will deny anything. (Renewed cheers.) A vast and incalculable majority was in favour of those very Resolutions. There was a small, a miserable (speaking of it arithmetically) (laughter) minority only, who had the-something, I hardly know what to call it presumption (cheers and laughter) to lift up their hands against it: therefore I feel thankful that the strangers who have honoured us with their company to-day have had an opportunity of perceiving, in the numbers who voted for and against those particular Resolutions, what is, I be

lieve, the prevailing, decided, commanding sense of the whole Methodist body, of the Methodist Connexion at home, and the Methodist Connexion abroad. (Cheers.) Our Missionaries, had they been here, would have been with us today; our Missionary Societies and congregations, had they been here, would have been with us to-day; and they would have been against those who are against us. (Cheers.) I ought to beg pardon of you, Sir, for giving this expression to my own individual feelings; but I now ask the Meeting to pass this vote of thanks, with the full persuasion that it will be carried with the greatest possible cordiality, and with the sincerest feelings of gratitude. (Cheers.)

The vote of thanks was then put to the Meeting by DR. BUNTING, and carried unanimously amidst great applause.

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The CHAIRMAN, in returning thanks, said,—Ladies and gentlemen, I feel that, to all in this Meeting, my thanks are due for the comparatively easy task which I have had to perform to-day; but I cannot conclude without expressing and I trust that, as a stranger, I may be allowed to expressthe deep sense of sorrow which came over me, when I perceived that shades of difference hung over this vast and most useful Society. At all times I am happy to have the honour of coming among you; and would to God I had the power of pouring oil upon the troubled waters! I would say to all parties differing in your Society, that I trust they will call to mind the vast use which this Society is of to all the world; the deep respon

sibility which will rest upon any who either court unnecessary investigation into matters with which they may have nothing to do, (hear, hear,) or with those, on the other hand, who refuse information upon matters on which inform ation should be given. (Hear, hear.) I earnestly implore you, one and all, to remember the deep responsibility which rests upon you, of maintaining the public utility and character of the great Wesleyan body before the world. (Loud cries of "Hear, hear.") The world knows what you have done for Christianity; the world sees what you are doing for Christianity; and don't let any little difference interfere to disappoint the world in what they anticipate that you will do for Christianity in future. (Cheers.) Ladies and gentlemen, I congratulate you upon this Meeting. I thank those who differ from the majority for the ready manner in which they conceded to the opinion of the Chair. I trust that I have not kept order here with any rigour, or without due impartiality; and I only press, that at our Meeting next year, all differences may be removed from amongst us : (cheers ;) that you will then meet united in heart, and prodigal in hand, to the good work before you; and that, in the mean time, not only this Society, but all Societies advancing in the same course with yourselves, may be blessed in their work, and encouraged as they proceed. (Loud cheers.)

The REV. DR. NEWTON then closed the proceedings with prayer and the benediction.

THE Congregational Collections at the late Anniversary, including those at ExeterHall, on Monday, April 29th, and at Great-Queen-street chapel, on Wednesday, May 15th, amount, as nearly as can be ascertained, to £994. 7s. 10d. ; which, added to the Contributions and Legacies reported on the Cover of the Missionary Notices for June and July, as received at, or in connexion with, the late Anniversary, make a total of more than £4,000.

DEATHS OF MISSIONARIES.

It is our painful duty to announce the deaths of two valuable labourers in the Mission-field. Mr. Sampson Busby, after having laboured for upwards of thirty-three years in various parts of North America under the direction of the Society, has been suddenly removed from his family and the church to his everlasting reward. He died at the city of St. John's, New-Brunswick, on the 31st of March last. Mr. William Guard, Superintendent of the Donegal Mission, died at Donkeneely, Ireland, on the 7th of April, after three hours' illness, in the fifty-fifth year of his age.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY JAMES NICHOLS, HOXTON-SQUARE.

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